GLENDALE -- Many in the University of Phoenix Stadium crowd already had headed for their postgame party in the parking lot Sunday, knowing the Cardinals were about to snap their nine-game losing streak, when safety Adrian Wilson added what might prove to be the punctuation mark to his career in Arizona.

Wilson blitzed Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford and sacked him for an 8-yard loss with 3:58 to play in Arizona’s 38-10 victory. It gave Wilson 25.5 career sacks to go with 27 career interceptions.

He is only the sixth player in NFL history to have at least 25 sacks and 25 interceptions.

Truthfully, the sack had little to do with the outcome, although it set up Beanie Wells for his third touchdown run of the game.

And Wilson often was a bystander Sunday, as he has been since the Cardinals came out of their off week and his role was reduced to playing in the team’s base defense while Rashad Johnson took over in nickel and dime packages.

It was Johnson who took an interception of Stafford 53 yards for a touchdown right before halftime, giving the Cardinals a 21-7 lead.

But if the significance of the moment and Wilson’s contribution was missed by fans, it clearly was not missed by Wilson or his teammates.

The five-time Pro Bowl safety entered a media interview room with tears in his eyes. And he choked up several times while taking questions.

When he answered one about joining the 25-25 club, it was obvious more was on his mind.

“Believe it or not, I’m a very emotional person, and I put a lot of stock in what I do to play here and to give everything that I have here,” Wilson said. “It feels good, and we won. A lot of the emotions that are coming out now are just thinking through the hard times and being where we’re at now.

“It’s just all the hard work that you put in to see something like this happen. To me, and us, that’s big to me and my teammates. And I’m glad they were there to see it.”

Wilson knows the path he’s on.

If he wants to continue to play a significant role, it will probably have to be for another team. He has, on several occasions, made it clear that he hopes to finish his career as a Cardinal. Either way, at 33, his career is winding down.

And he has shown remarkable loyalty to a team that struggled mightily in his early years. No player appreciated more what the Cardinals accomplished in 2008, when they advanced to the Super Bowl.

But even then, Wilson wasn’t as emotional as he was Sunday.

“History is history,” he said when asked again about the sack. “Pretty soon, somebody is going to break that. I’m just going to relish in it with my teammates. It means a lot. I wish I was able to put it into works, but I can’t. I’m too emotional right now.”

His teammates put it into words for him.

“He’s huge,” defensive end Calais Campbell said. “In my five years here, he’s been like a big brother. The way he approaches the game, the way he works and tries to help everybody around him be better, he’s a phenomenal teammate.

“And to join that 25-25 club? I hope it makes a case for him to be a Hall of Famer someday, because I want to say I played with a Hall of Famer.

“I was talking to him a little bit afterward, and he was emotional. It’s an honor to play with that guy. It’s hard to come here week in and week out when you’ve lost nine games in a row and keep putting your heart into it.

“But that’s what he does. He leads by example, and we follow.”

He said Wilson’s message after an embarrassing loss in Seattle last week was that the Cardinals are a good defense that just had a bad day.

“I love him,” said tackle Darnell Dockett, who has been with Wilson even longer. “I’m so happy for him. I looked over today, and he was emotional. He had tears in his eyes.

“I’m very blessed to be a part of his career for the last eight years, and to see a dominant guy dominate so many games and face some adversity this year and still overcome and have his head held high.

“He is still one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around.... I’m just proud of him, man. Through all the adversity he faced this year, to have his head held high and continue to pat guys on the back and say, ‘C’mon man, let’s finish this season out strong’ and all that. He’s a guy who gives everything he’s got.”

Dockett said he’s going to buy Wilson a gift for the 25th sack that put him in such a rare club.

“That’s hard to do, you know?” Dockett added.

At a lot of times during Wilson’s 12 seasons, the same could be said of being a Cardinal. Yet Wilson never shied away from it.

Next week, the Cardinals play their final game of the season at University of Phoenix Stadium. It could also be Wilson’s final game there in a Cardinals uniform.

Like Dockett, Cardinals fans owe him a little gift. Stay until it’s over, because he has.

Reach Young at bob.young@arizonarepublic.com or 602-320-9145. Follow him on Twitter @BobYoungTHI.

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